There are a variety of different types of plants that cows eat. These plants include: Alfalfa, Clover, Legumes, Water hemlock, and more. If you want to grow them yourself, you can learn more about these plants by reading the following articles. Hopefully, they will be of some help. And, if not, you can learn more about the types of plants cows enjoy eating.
Contents
Alfalfa
Whether you have a dairy farm or not, you are probably aware of the benefits of alfalfa for cattle. This plant is highly energy dense and can help keep cows’ weight and energy levels at a healthy level. There are many factors to consider when feeding alfalfa to your cattle. Below are some tips on managing alfalfa. If you are considering switching pastures, you should know what to look for and avoid.
If you want to supplement your cows’ diet, you can purchase alfalfa pellets. These are pulverized Alfalfa hay. Alfalfa cubes, on the other hand, require more chewing and contain coarser material. While they may be less nutritious, they can help your cows gain weight. Just give them a few cubes once or twice a week and they will get used to the taste.
Clover
Cows should not only eat grass, but they should also graze on clover. Many cows are poisoned when they eat dormant grass. The nectar in clover is sweet to both cows and bees. Cows were also used by early settlers as a flavoring for drinks and leaves were used as a food in salads. However, some varieties of clover can be poisonous to cows, especially if they are pregnant. The plant can be used to improve the quality of hay and pastures and can be planted with no-till drilling techniques.
There are many risks associated with clover for cows, including bloat. In large quantities, clover may cause bloat, a condition known as “mold.” When cows eat too much clover, it causes their rumen to overwork and create gasses that could be fatal for the animal. Some varieties of clover may cause bloat in humans. Therefore, farmers should limit the amount of clover that cows graze in order to avoid causing bloat.
Legumes
Most of the time, cows graze on grass, which is available in various forms. The plants cows eat include broad-leaf plants and legumes. The diversity of a pasture helps cattle to gain a good balance of nutrients and energy. More than legumes, pastures are rich in other plants and animals that feed on the plant matter. In fact, more than 95 percent of a cow’s diet is grass, which includes hay grasses and even common yard grasses like bluegrass.
While most cows graze on grass, there are certain weeds that they will eat, including dandelions and Canada thistle. If trained well, cows will graze on these plants and turn them into plant litter. This is helpful to a pasture’s overall health, because cows aren’t able to eat weeds that contain toxins. In addition to grass, cows can eat a wide range of fruits and vegetables.
Water hemlock
It’s not entirely clear why cows eat water hemlock, but the plant has been shown to cause severe poisoning in livestock. Water hemlock is a plant cows eat in large quantities, primarily in the spring when the seed heads are green. Later in the season, these seed heads are replaced by the plant’s roots, which are palatable to animals. However, exposed roots have poisoned livestock in the past. Exposure to exposed roots during plowing, ditch cleaning, or trampling in streambeds has led to death losses. Moreover, the tuberous roots of water hemlock are toxic and very dangerous.
A toxic toxin in water hemlock causes convulsions and muscle degeneration, and can knock out a person, even if the plant isn’t eaten. In such cases, the animal may be given intravenous sodium pentobarbital. In case of an accidental ingestion of water hemlock, vomiting should be instigated immediately. If respiratory failure occurs, artificial respiration should be provided. Some researchers have found that dilute acetic acid is a good neutralizer of water hemlock toxin.
Larkspur
Cattle commonly graze larkspur during a storm and eat more of it than they do when the plants are dry. This may be because the wet larkspur is more palatable to cattle than the dry ones, so cattle tend to gather it in groups during storms. The plant is toxic in all parts, but new growth and seeds contain the highest amounts of toxins. The plant also has a strong acrid flavor and contains a high concentration of toxic alkaloids.
Larkspur is an herbaceous plant that is found in many parts of the western United States. It grows as a perennial plant with hollow stems. The flowers of larkspur are irregular and perfect, with five sepals, the uppermost sepal bearing a spur. The corolla contains two sets of two petals and multiple stamens. There are three pistils in each flower, and there are three separate stamens per pistil.
